Sony releases flash Vaio notebook

SYDNEY: Sony has unveiled its first Vaio notebook computer to use a flash memory drive in place of a conventional spinning hard disk drive, giving it a performance edge against other ultraportable notebooks but with one trade off – storage capacity.

According to Sony, benefits of the solid state flash memory drives over conventional HDDs include faster boot-up time and operating speed, reduced weight, increased battery life and better durability due to the lack of moving parts.

However, the flash memory drive provides just 32GB of storage space. Similar Vaio notebooks in the range line feature 120GB and 160GB due to their use of traditional spinning disk HDDs.

Consumers will also have to pay a premium for the flash-based notebook, the VCG-TZ18GN, which will retail for $4,299.
Sony made the announcement as part of its Sony Experience More trade show, which began yesterday with a retailer session and was opened to the media today.